1. Field of Invention
A bed rail assembly adapted to a bed having a box spring and a mattress, for securing both sides of a bed to prevent a bed occupant from rolling off either side, fits between the box spring and mattress and adjusts to any width mattress, having two side securing plates that maintain the assembly onto the sides of the mattress and box spring, the side securing plates attaching to side support rails within which vertically sliding bed rails are retained within a pair of rail locking mechanisms on each end of each side support rails, the vertically sliding bed rails being raised or lowered by releasing and locking open spring-loaded locking pins from mechanism housings within the rail locking mechanisms for each sliding bed rail to be raised or lowered.
2. Description of Prior Art
The following United States patents were discovered and are disclosed within this application for utility patent. All relate to bed railing systems either adapted to a bed or made part of a bed frame.
The first three U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,942 to Allevato, U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,171 to Einsele and U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,654 to Pivacek, disclose bed rail supports that are pivotal on a vertical and horizontal plane, which attach to a bed frame. Their bed rails are raised by pivotal means and store in a horizontal plane below the surface of the bed, each device having a stop to retain a raised position and a spring or brake member to assist in the lowering of the bed rail to prevent rapid lowering of the bed rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,490 to Cardinale discloses a bed safety guard which has a frame that is inserted between a box spring and a mattress, making it portable. However, the bed rail is a fixed bed rail which cannot be lowered. The guard rail can be removed by disengaging it from the slat, which runs across the width of the bed, but does not suggest raising and lowering the guard rail.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,559 to Bly, a telescoping bed side rail is adjustable for length and is connected to the bed frame. It features a spring-loaded quick release pin which allows for a quick attachment of the lower portion of the bed rail which is pivotally mounted to the bracket which is connected to the frame portion by a clamp assembly. It is intended for use on one side of the bed only, and its locking means attaches the bed rail to the pivotal bracket in only one position, which does not provide for the bed rail to be raised and lowered, only disengaged. It is also intended for a bed which raises, the telescoping portion of the bed rail becoming elongated when the bed is lowered, and retracted when the bed is raised.
Another bed rail mounting bracket attaching directly to the frame is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,340 to Shatz, and it discloses a spring loaded locking pin with a manual gripping know fitted to a sleeve attached to a mounting bracket, the sleeve receiving a lower end of a bed rail, which is not claimed as part of the invention. It is unknown if the bed rail has multiple holes in it or not, since it is not claimed as part of the invention, these unknown holes receiving the end of the pin.